PANAMA CITY – The Florida Department of Health in Bay County on Saturday continued its Back to School Shot Blast, an initiative vaccinating dozens of kids from kindergarten through 12th grade.

It was the second day of the health department’s annual student health push, in which students are given shots to prevent ailments including hepatitis B, tetanus, and measles and mumps, among other maladies.

Since Friday, at least 70 students have received vaccinations, according to public health services manager Laura McKinney.

“It’s just extra protection,” McKinney said of the vaccines. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends them because they are safe vaccines, and they’re available and have minimal side effects. We always say prevention is better than getting the disease.”

Younger kids received stickers, colorful bandages and other small prizes for their cooperation. But surprisingly, they are typically more calm than their older counterparts when facing a needle, McKinney said.

“The seventh-graders know that a needle hurts, but some of our younger kids — our 4- and 5-year-old kids who are just getting ready to go to school — they’re very excited and their parents have talked to them about the importance of getting their shots ... . They will come in here very bravely, like big kids would, and get their shots.”

McKinney recommended that college-bound high school seniors get vaccinated for meningitis, an inflammation of protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The disease is caused by infections with viruses and bacteria, which can be widespread in college dorms with shared living quarters and bathroom facilities.

“It’s something that a lot of college kids get when they first go off to school,” McKinney said.

Vaccinations will resume Monday and continue through Friday.

While children were vaccinated Saturday, their parents had access to health and safety information and the advice of health department officials. April Hartwell, a child passenger safety technician, spoke to parents about the proper use of child car seats.

“When you’re in a rush, you can miss snapping them in there with their chest clip, or at the shoulder level, or buckling it between their legs,” she said. “If they get in a rush, they can miss little key things that will keep their child safe.”